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Watseka Theatre restored and reopened New Years eve

WATSEKA, IL — With much fanfare, the Watseka Theatre reopened earlier this week with big goals for the future. This ambitious plan was only first mentioned here just over six months ago.

On New Year’s Eve, when the restored Watseka Theatre will reopen to the public after nine years, guests won’t get popcorn and a movie.

Instead they will get a look at what a former Cissna Park music teacher has been daydreaming about for 30 years — a hub for art and culture.

That former teacher, Chuck Gomez, and Debra Liddell, a dentist, will reopen The Watseka Theatre not as a movie house, but as a performing arts center available to rent. Liddell and Gomez will ring in 2008 by presenting four musical acts, dinner and much more at a $100-a-ticket gala.

The complete story along with two pictures of the interior can be found at the Daily Journal.